UNITED STATES MINING LAWS, 

AND 

REGULATIONS THEREUNDER. 


GENERAL LAND OFFICE, OCTOBER 31, 1881. 





















DNITED STATES MINING LAWS, 

AND 

REGULATIONS THEREUNDER. 


GENERAL LAND OFFICE, OCTOBER 31, 1881. 


1ml 









UNITED STATES MINING LAWS 

AND 

EEGULATIONS THEREUNDER. 


Departaient of the Interior, 

General Land Office, 

October 29, 1881. 

Gentlemen : Your attention is invited to tlie Eevised Statutes of 
the United States and the amendments thereto in regard to 

MIYIXG LAWS AYD MIYIXG EESOUKCES. 

Title xxxii, Chapter G. 

Section 2318. In all cases lands valuable for minerals 

shall be reserved from sale, except as otherwise exT)ressly ——- 

directed by law. lee^. H.’p. 

Sec. 2319. All valuable mineral deposits in lands belong- lands 

ing to the United States, both surveyed and unsurveyed, open to purchase 
are hereby declared to be free and open to exploration and Ly citizen^. 
])urchase, and the lands in which they are found to occuiia- ^10 May, 1872, c. 
tion and purchase, by citizens of the United States and 
those who have declared their intention to become such, -p- § Gear 
under regulations prescribed by law, and according to the 3 how.‘, 120. 
local customs or rules of miners in the several mining-dis¬ 
tricts, so far as the same are applicable and not inconsistent 
with the laws of the United States. 

Sec, 2320 . Mining-claims upon A^eins or lodes of quartz Length of min¬ 
or other rock in place bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, v°emt 

tin, copper, or other valuable deposits, heretofore located,-^— 

shall be governed as to length along the vein or lode by the i52%^2f’v! 17,’p! 
customs, regulations, and laws in force at the date of their 9 ^* 
location. A mining-claim located after the tenth day of 
May, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, whether located 
by one or more, persons, may equal, but shall not exceed, 
one thousand five hundred feet in length along the vein or 
lode; but no location of a mining-claim shall be made until 
the discoA^ery of the A^ein or lode within the limits of the 
claim located. Ho claim shall extend more than three hun¬ 
dred feet on each side of tlie middle of the A^ein at the 
surface, nor shall any claim be limited by any mining regu¬ 
lation to less than twenty-fiA^e feet on each side of the 
middle of the A^ein at the surface, except where ad Averse 
riglits existing on the tenth day of May, eighteen hundred 
and seventy-two, render such limitation necessary. The 
end-lines of each claim shall be parallel to each other. 







4 


zeSh?^ 0^ citi- Sec. 2321. Proof of citzeiisliip, under this chapter, may 

-consist, in the case of an individual, of his own affidavit 

152 ^ a ?fv!r^’p. thereof; in the case of an association of persons unincor- 
porated, of the affidavit of their authorized agent, made on 
his own knowledge, or upon information and belief; and in 
the case of a corporation organized under the laws of the 
United States, or of any State or Territory thereof, by the 
filing of a certified copy of their charter or certificate of 
incorporation. 

Locators’rights Sec. 2322. Tlic locators of all mining locations hereto- 
eDjoym?nT“ fore made or which shall hereafter be made, on any min- 
~io May 1872 c vciii, lodc, 01' Icdgo, Situated on the public domain, 
152, 8.3,'^’i7,p.’9L their lieirs and assigns, where no adverse claim exists on the 
tenth day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, so 
long as they comply with the laws of the United States, 
and with State, Territorial, and local regulations not in 
conflict with the laws of the United States governing their 
possessory title, shall have the exclusive right of possession 
and enjoyment of all the surface included within the lines 
of their locations, and of all veins, lodes, and ledges through¬ 
out their entire depth, the top or apex of which lies inside 
of such surface-lines extended downward vertically, although 
such veins, lodes, or ledges may so far depart from a per¬ 
pendicular in their course downward as to extend outside 
the vertical side-lines of such surface locations. But their 
right of possession to such outside parts of such veins or 
ledges shall be confined to such portions thereof as lie 
between vertical planes drawn downward as above de¬ 
scribed, through the end-lines of their locations, so contin¬ 
ued in their own direction that such planes will intersect 
such exterior i^arts of such veins or ledges. And nothing 
in this section shall authorize the locator or possessor of a 
vein or lode which extends in its downward course beyond 
the vertical lines of his claim to enter ui)on the surface of a 
claim owned or possessed by another. 

Owners of tun- Sec. 2323. AVhere a tunnel is run for the development of 
neis, rights of. ^ lode, 01' foi' the discovery of mines, the owners of 

i 52 ^s^^v’i 7 ^^^ 9 °’ tunnel shall have the right of possession of all veins 
,8- ,v. ,p. ... within three thousand feet from the face of such 

tunnel on the line thereof, not previously known to exist, 
discovered in such tunnel, to the same extent as if discov¬ 
ered from the surface; and locations on the line of such 
tunnel of veins or lodes not appearing on the surface, made 
by other parties after the commencement of the tunnel, and 
while the same is being prosecuted with reasonable dili¬ 
gence, shall be invalid; but failure to prosecute the work 
on the tunnel for six months shall be considered as an aban¬ 
donment of the right to all undiscovered veins on the line 
of such tunnel. 

Regulations Sec. 2324. The miners of each mining-district may make 
ma de by miners, pegniationg iiot in coiiflict with the laws of the United 
i 52 ” 8 ^Tl 7 T ’92 ^'ith the laws of the State or Territory in which 

.the district is situated, governing the location, manner of 

recording, amount of work necessary to hold possession of 
a mining-claim, subject to the following requirements: The 
location must l3e distinctly marked on the ground so that 






5 


its boundaries can be readily traced. All records of iiiining- 
claims hereafter made shall contain the name or names of 
the locators, the date of the location, and such a descrip¬ 
tion of tlie claim or claims located by reference to some 
natural olfject or permanent monument as will identify the 
claim. On each claim located after the tenth day of May, 
eighteen hundred and seventy-two, and until a i)atent has' 
been issued therefor, not less than one hundred dollars’ 
worth of labor shall l3e performed or imiirovements made 
during each year. On all claims located prior to the tenth 
day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, ten dollars’ 
worth of labor shall be x>erformed or improvements made 
by the tenth day of June, eighteen hundred and seventy- 
four, and each year thereafter, for each one hundred feet in 
length along the vein until a patent has been issued there¬ 
for; but where such claims are held in common, such ex¬ 
penditure may be made ui^on any one claim ; and upon a 
failure to comidy with these conditions, the claim or mine 
upon which such failure occurred shall be open to relocation 
in the same manner as if no location of the same had ever 
been made, i^rovided that the original locators, their heirs, 
assigns, or legal representatives, have not resumed work 
upon the claim after failure and before such location. Upon 
the failure of any one of several co-owners to contribute his 
proportion of the expenditures required hereby, the co-own¬ 
ers who have i)erformed the labor or made the improve¬ 
ments may, at the exi)iration of the year, give such delin¬ 
quent co-owner personal notice in writing, or notice by 
publication in the newspaper published nearest the claim, 
for at least once a week for ninety days, and if at the ex¬ 
piration of ninety days after such notice in writing or 
by publication such delinquent should fail or refuse to con¬ 
tribute his proportion of the expenditure required by this 
section, his interest in the claim shall become the property 
of his co-owners who have made the required expendi¬ 
tures. 

Sec. 2325. A patent for any land claimed and located for Patents for 
valuable deposits may be obtained in the following manner: S)w oMlined^^’ 
Any person, association, or cori)oration authorized to locate "Jo May 
a claim under this chax^ter, having claimed and located ai52,8.6,v’n,p.92.’ 
piece of land for such purposes, who has, or have, complied 
with the terms of this chapter, may file in the jmoper land- 
office an application for a x)atent, under oath, showing such 
compliance, together with a i)lat and field-notes of the claim 
or claims in common, made by or under the direction of the 
United States surveyor-general, showing accurately the 
boundaries of the claim or claims, which shall be distinctly 
marked by monuments on the ground, and shall post a copy 
of such i)lat. together with a notice of such application for 
a patent, in a consj^icuous place on the land embraced in 
such i)lat previous to the filing of the ax)X)lication for a pat¬ 
ent, and shall file an affidavit of at least two persons that 
such notice has been duly posted, and shall file a copy of 
the notice in such land-office, and shall thereupon be enti¬ 
tled to a patent for the land, in the manner following: The 
register of the land-office, ujDon the filing of such applica- 



6 


Adverse claim, 
proceedings on. 


10 May, 1872,0. 
152,s,7,v.l7,p.93. 


tion, plat, field-notes, notices^ and affidavits, shall publish a 
notice that such application has been made, for the iieriod 
of sixty days, in a newspaper to be by him designated as 
published near to such claim j and he shall also jiost such 
notice in his office for the same period. The claimant at 
the time of filing this application, or at any time thereafter, 
within the sixty days, of publication, shall file with the reg¬ 
ister a certificate of the United States surveyor-general that 
five hundred dollars’ worth of labor has been expended or 
improvements made upon the claim by himself or grantors; 
that the plat is correct, with such further description by 
such reference to natural objects or permanent monuments 
as shall identify the claim, and furnish an accurate descrip¬ 
tion, to be incori)orated in the i^atent. At the expiration 
of the sixty days of publication the claimant shall file his 
affidavit, showing that the plat and notice have been posted 
in a consi)icuous jilace on the claim during such period of 
j)ublication. If no adverse claim shall have been filed with 
the register and the receiver of the proper laud-office at the 
expiration to the sixty days of publication, it shall be as¬ 
sumed that the applicant is entitled to a patent, upon the 
l)ayment to the x)roper officer of five dollars per acre, and 
that no adverse claim exists; and thereafter no objection 
from third i)arties to the issuance of a patent shall be heard, 
excex)t it be shown that the applicant has failed to comply 
vith the terms of this chapter. 

Sec. 2326 . AYhere an adverse claim is filed during the 
X)eriod of x^ublication, it shall be upon oath of the i^erson or 
X)ersons making the same, and shall show the nature, bound¬ 
aries, and extent of such adverse claim, and all proceedings, 
except the i^ublication of notice and making and filing of 
the affidavit thereof, shall be stayed until the controversy 
shall have been settled or decided by a court of comi^etent 
jurisdiction, or the adverse claim waived. It shall be the 
duty of the adverse claimant, within thirty days after filing 
his claim, to commence proceedings in a court of comx^etent 
jurisdiction, to determine the question of the right of i)os- 
session, and prosecute the same with reasonable diligence 
to final judgment; and a failure so to do shall be a waiver 
of his adverse claim. After such judgment shall have been 
rendered, the party entitled to the possession of the claim, 
or any portion thereof, may, without giving further notice, 
file a certified copy of the judgment-roll with the register of 
the land-office, together with the certificate of the surveyor- 
general that the requisite amount of labor has been ex¬ 
pended or improvements made thereon, and the description 
required in other cases, and shall x)ay to the receiver five 
dollars i)er acre for his claim, together with the proper fees, 
whereupon the whole proceedings and the judgment-roll 
shall be certified by the register to the Commissioner of the 
General Land Office, and a patent shall issue thereon for 
the claim, or such portion thereof as the applicant shall 
appear, from the decision of the court, to rightly possess. 
If it appears from the decision of the court that several 
imrties are entitled to separate and different portions of 
the claim, each party may pay for his portion of the claim, 



7 


# 


witli tlie proper fees, and file the certificate and descrij)- 
tion by the surveyor-general, whereupon the register shall 
certify the proceedings and judgment-roll to the Com¬ 
missioner of the General Land Office, as in the preced¬ 
ing case, and patents shall issue to the several parties ac¬ 
cording to their respective rights. Nothing herein con¬ 
tained shall be construed to x>revent the alienation of a 
title conveyed by a i)atent for a mining-claim to any per¬ 
son whatever. 

Sec. 2327. The description of vein or lode claims, ux)on Description of 
sipveyed lands, shall designate the location of the claim lu^veyeSduS 
with reference to the lines of the public surveys, but need surveyed lands, 
not conform therewith; but where a patent shall be issued lo May, 1872 , c. 
for claims upon unsurveyed lands, the surveyor-general, p- 

in extending the surveys, shall adjust the same to the 
boundaries of such patented claim, according to the plat or 
description thereof, but so as in no case to interfere with 
or change the location of any such x>atented claim. 

Sec. 2328. Ax)X)lications for patents for mining-claims Pending appu- 
under former laws now pending may be prosecuted to a final ’ existing 
decision in the General Land Office; but in such cases, ^ 

where adverse rights are not affected thereby, patents may 152 , s^ 9 ,^v. nf’p.' 
issue in pursuance of the provisions of this chapter 5 and 
all jiatents for mining-claims upon veins or lodes hereto¬ 
fore issued shall convey all the rights and privileges con¬ 
ferred by this chapter where no adverse rights existed on 
the tenth day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy-two. 

Sec. 2329. Claims usually called placers,” including all to 

forms of dei^osit, excepting veins of quartz or other rock surveys! St of. 
in x)lace, shall be subject to entry and patent, under like " 9 juiy, 1370 , 0 . 
circumstances and conditions, and upon similar x)roceed- 235 , a.iWv. lejp. 
ings, as are i)rovided for vein or lode claims; but where 
the lands have been i)reviously surveyed by the United 
States, the entry in its exterior limits shall conform to the 
legal subdivisions of the public lands. 

Sec. 2330. Legal subdivisions of forty acres may be sub- te^.acre^^tracta^ 
divided into ten-acre tracts; and two or more persons, or maximum of pia- 
associations of persons, having contiguous claims of any ^ocationa. 
size, although such claims may be less than ten acres each, 9 July, i87o, c. 
may make joint entry thereof; but no location of a placer- 21 ?;®' 
claim, made after the ninth day of July, eighteen hundred 
and seventy, shall exceed one hundred and sixty acres for 
any one person or association of persons, which location 
shall conform to the United States surveys; and nothing 
in this section contained shall defeat or impair any bona 
fide pre-emption or homestead claim upon agricultural 
lands, or authorize the sale of the imxirovements of any 
bona fide settler to any purchaser. 

Sec. 2331. Where placer-claims are upon surveyed lands, 
and conform to legal subdivisions, no further survey or Jprveye^.^i^mita^ 
plat shall be required, and all x^lacer-mining claims located tion of ciaima. 
after the tenth day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy- 10 May, 1872 , c. 
two, shall conform as near as practicable with the United s. io,v.i7, p. 
States system of i)ublic-land surveys, and the rectangular 
subdivisions of such surveys, and no such location shall in¬ 
clude more than twenty acres for each individual claimant; 








8 


but where placer-claims cannot be conformed to legal sub¬ 
divisions, survey and plat shall be made as on unsurveyed 
lands 5 and where by the segregation of mineral lands in 
any legal subdivision a quantity of agricultural land less 
than forty acres remains, such fractional portion of agricult¬ 
ural land may be entered, by any party qualified by law, 
for homestead or pre-emption purposes, 
of^osse^sior Where such i^erson or association, they and 

toesteWish^a their grantors, liavc held and worked their claims for a 
right to a patent. equal to the time prescribed by the statute of limita- 

9 July, 1870, c tious for luining-claims of the State or Territory where the 

1 ^’P’same may be situated, evidence of such jiossession and 
working of the claims for such period shall be sufficient to 
establish a right to a patent thereto under this chapter, in 
the absence of any adverse claim j but nothing in this 
chapter shall be deemed to impair any lien which may 
have attached in any way whatever to any mining-claim 
or x>roperty thereto attached prior to the issuance of a 
patent. 

Proceedings for Sec. 2333. Where the same person, association, or cor- 
possession of a x>lacer-claim, and also a vein 

-^^-or lode included within the boundaries thereof, application 

made for a patent for the iilacer-claim, with the 
94.’ ’ statement that it includes such vein or lode, and in such 

case a patent shall issue for the placer-claim, subject to the 
provisions of this chapter, including such vein or lode, uiion 
the payment 'of five dollars per acre for such vein or lode 
claim, and twenty-five feet of surface on each side thereof. 
The remainder of the placer-claim, or any placer-claim not 
embracing any vein or lode claim, shall be paid for at the 
rate of two dollars and fifty cents per acre, together with 
all costs of proceedings ; and where a vein or lode, such as 
is described in section twenty-three hundred and twenty, is 
known to exist within the boundaries of a placer-claim, an 
application for a patent for such placer-claim which does 
not include an application for the vein or lode claim shall 
be construed as a conclusive declaration that the claimant 
of the placer-claim has no right of possession of the vein or 
lode claim; but where the existence of a vein ar lode in a 
placer-claim is not known, a i^atent for the placer-claim shall 
convey all valuable mineral and other dei)osits within the 
boundaries thereof. 

Surveyor-gen- Sec. 2334. The surveyor-geiieral of the United States 
surieyors^En^ appoint ill eacli land-district containing mineral lands 
ing-ciaims, &c. as many competent surveyors as shall apply for appoint- 

10 May, 1872 , c. meiit to survcy mining-claims. The expenses of the survey 
152,8.12, V. 17, p. of vein or lode claims, and the survey and subdivision of 

placer-claims into smaller quantities than one hundred and 
sixty acres, together with the cost of publication of notices, 
shall be paid by the apjilicants, and they shall be at liberty 
to obtain the same at the most reasonable rates, and they 
shall also be at liberty to employ any United States deinity 
sur^ eyor to make the survey. " The Commissioner of the 
General Land Office sliall also have power to establish the 
maximmn charges for surveys and publication of notices 
under this chapter j and, in case of excessive charges for 





9 


publicjatiou, he may designate any newspaper published in 
a land-district where mines are situated for the publication 
of mining-notices in such district, and fix the rates to be 
charged by such i)aper • and, to the end that the Gommis- 
sioiier may be fully informed on the subject, each applicant 
shall file with the register a sworn statement of all charges 
and fees paid by such applicant for publication and sur¬ 
veys, together with all fees and money paid the register and 
the receiver of the land-office, which statement shall be trans¬ 
mitted, with the other papers in the case, to the Commis¬ 
sioner of the General Land Office. 

Sec. 2335. All affidavits required to be made under this verification of 
chapter may be verified before any ofiicer authorized to ad- affidavits, &c. 
minister oaths within the land-district where the claims lo May, i872, c. 
may be situated, and all testimony and proofs may be taken 95 ^’ 
before any such ofiicer, and, when duly certified hy the 
officer taking the same, shall have the same force and effect 
as if taken before the register and receiver of the land- 
office. In cases of contest as to the mineral or agricultural 
character of the land, the testimony and i)roofs may be 
taken as herein jirovided on personal notice of at least ten 
days to the opposing jparty j or if such party cannot be 
found, then l)y publication of at least once a week for thirty 
days in a newspaper, to be designated by the register of 
the land-office as published nearest to the location of such 
land; and the register shall require proof that such notice 
has been given. 

Sec. 233G. Where two or more veins intersect or cross. where veins 
each other, priority of title shall govern; and such i)rior ^^tersect, &c. 
location shall be entitled to all ore or mineral contained 
Avithin the space of intersection ; but the subsequent loca- 96.’ 
tion shall have the right of way through the space of inter¬ 
section for the purposes of the com^enient working of the 
mine. And where two or more veins unite, the oldest or 
l)rior location shall take the vein below the point of union, 
including all the space of intersection. 

Sec. 2337. Where non-mineral land not contiguous to the Patents for 
vein or lode is used or occupied by the proprietor of such 

vein or lode for mining or milling i)uri)Oses, such nou-adja-^^- 

cent surface-ground may be embraced and included in an p; 

application for a patent for such vein or lode, and the same 96.’ 
may be patented therewith, subject to the same preliminary 
requirements as to surA ey and notice as are applicable to 
veins or lodes 5 but no location hereafter made of such non- 
adjacent land shall exceed five acres, and payment for the 
same must be made at the same rate as fixed by this chap¬ 
ter for the sui)erficies of the lode. The owner of a quartz- 
mill or reduction-AAmrks, not OAAuiing a mine in connection 
thercAvith, may also receive a patent for his mill-site, as 
X)ro\dded in this section. 

Sec. 2338. As a condition of sale, in the absence of saie^ma^ 

essary legislation by Congress, the local legislature of any bemade^by^iS 
State or Territory may provide rules for Avorking mines, l egislature. 
immlving easements, drainage, and other necessary means 26 juiy.isne, c. 
to their complete development; and those conditions shall p- 

be fully expressed in the patent. 






10 


wSter by priority of ])ossessioii, rights to 

for miniuff.^&c^Uhe 1186 of Water for loiiiing, agriciiltiiral, manufacturing, or 
canah”^ otlicr ])urposes, have vested and accrued, and the same are 

—:-;— recognized and acknowledged by tlie local customs, laws, 

2 H 2 fa.“,''v.^i 4 f’p.’i'lid tlic dccisioiis of courts, tlie possessors and owners of 
253. such vested rights shall be maintained and i)rotected in the 

same; and the right of way for the construction of ditches 
and canals for the purposes herein specified is acknowl¬ 
edged and confirmed; but wlienever any jierson, in the 
construction of any ditch or canal, injures or damages the 
possession of any settler on the public domain, tlie party 
committing su(*h injury or damage shall be liable to the 
party injured for such injury or damage. 

Patents, p^re- Sec. 2340. All patents granted, or pre-emption or home- 
homeSds steuds allowed, shall be subject to any vested and accrued 
ject to vested and 'svater riglits, or lights to ditches and reservoirs used in con- 
rights. nection with such water-rights, as may have been acquired 

9 July, 1870, c. under or recognized by the i)receding section. 

230,8.17, V. ,p. gEC. 2341. Wherever, upon the lands heretofore desig- 
in^SinovJhn’^^^®^ as mineral lands, which have been excluded from 
able mines are survey aiid Sale, there have been homesteads made by cit- 
to^horaeTteadJ!‘^'^i^®i^s of the Unitec^ States, or persons who have declared 
~ 26 ju i 1 86 6 c intention to become citizens, which homesteads have 
262 , s. "(fV. 14 ,’p. been made, improved; and used for agricultural purposes, 
253- and uiion which there have been no valuable mines of gold, 

silver, cinnabar, or copper discovered, and which are xiroj)- 
erly agricultural lands, the settlers or owners of sucli home¬ 
steads shall have a right of iire-emption thereto, and shall 
be entitled to purchase the same at the price of one dollar 
and twenty-five cents per acre, and in quantity not to ex¬ 
ceed one hundred and sixty acres; or they may avail them¬ 
selves of the provisions of chapter five of this Title, relating 
to Homesteads.” 


how^seTapan'aH ^ 1)011 the sui'vey of the lands described in the 

agricultural preceding section, the Secretary of the Interior may desig- 

-iiate and set apart such portions of the same as are clearly 

262 fs'^iif’v.^i| 5 -^'»^"i(^^ltural lands, which lands shall thereafter be subject 
253 ! to pre-emption and sale as other public lands, and be subject 

to all the laws and regulations applicable to the same. 
la^d-districtsaSd ^343. The President is authorized to establish ad- 

officers^ power“ofditional laiid-districts, and to appoint the necessary officers 
under existing laws, wherever he may deem the same neces- 
~26 July, 1866, c. ^ary for the public convenience in executing the provisions 
262,8. 7, V. 14, p. of this chapter. 

of Seo. 2344. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be 
to'lffeKertL^ poiistrued to impair, in any way, riglits or interests in min- 

rigbts. _ing property acquired under existing laws; nor to affect the 

10 May, 1872. c. provisious of the act entitled ^^An act granting to A. Sutro 
152, 8. 16, V. 17, p. privileges to aid in the construc- 

9 July, 1870 , c. tion of a draining and exploring tunnel to the Comstock 

235, 8. 17,’ V. 16,’ p! lode, 

218. ’ 


252. 
Provisions 


to the 

in the State of Nevada,” approved July twenty-five, 
eighteen hundred and sixty-six. 

Mineral lands Sec. 2345. The provisioiis of the preceding sections of 


this chapter shall not apply to the mineral lands situated 
1873. c. in the States of Micliigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, which 
‘ are declared free and open to exploration and purchase 


J8 

159, 









II 


according to legal subdivisions, in like manner as before 
the tenth day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy-two. 

And any bona fide entries of such lands vfithin the States 
named since the tenth of May, eighteen hundred and sev¬ 
enty-two, may be patented without reference to any of the 
foregoing ])rovisions of this chapter. Such lands shall be 
oftered for i)ublic sale in the same manner, at the same min¬ 
imum price, and under the same rights of i)re-emi>tion as 
Other public lands. 

Sec. 2340. No act passed at the first session of the thirty- Grants of lands 
eighth Congress, granting lands to States or corporations poSSoM^SotTo 
to aid in the construction of roads, or for other x>urposes, or include mineral 

to extend the time of grants made prior to the thirtieth day - 

of January, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, shall be so so jan., ises, 
construed as to embrace mineral lands, which in all cases p 
are reserved exclusively to the United States, unless other¬ 
wise specially f)rovided in the act or acts making the 
grant. 


KEPEAL PKOYISIONS. 

Title lxxiv. 

Sec. 5505. The foregoing seventy-three titles embrace the Eevised 

statutes of the United States general and xiermanent in 

their nature, in force on the 1st day of December, one thou---- 

sand eight hundred and seventy-tiiree, as revised and con¬ 
solidated by commissioners apiminted under an act of Con¬ 
gress, and the same shall be designated and cited as The 
Devised Statutes of the United States. 

Sec. 5596. All acts of Congress passed prior to said first 
day of December, one thousand eight hundred and seventy- 
three, any iiortion of which is embraced in any section of 
said revision, are hereby rejiealed, and the section aiijilica- 
ble thereto shall be in force in lieu thereof; all iiarts of 
such acts not contained in such revision, having been re- 
Xiealed or superseded by subsequent acts, or not being gen¬ 
eral and permanent in their nature: Provided^ That the 
incorporation into such revision of any general and perma¬ 
nent provision, taken from an act making approi)riations, 
or from an act containing other provisions of a iirivate, local, • 

or temporary character, shall not repeal, or in any way 
affect any appropriation, or any provision of a private, local 
or temporary character, contained in any of said acts, but 
the same shall remain in force; and all acts of Congress 
passed prior to said last-named day no part of which are 
embraced in said revision, shall not be affected or changed 
by its enactments. 

Sec. 5507. The repeal of the several acts embraced in 

said revision, shall not affect any act done, or any right ‘ - 

accruing or accrued, or any suit or proceeding had or com¬ 
menced in any civil cause before the said repeal, but all 
rights and liabilities under said acts shall continue, and 
may be enforced in the same manner, as if said repeal, had 
not been made; nor shall said repeal, in any manner aflect 
the right to any office, or change the term or tenure tliereof. 






12 


aProsecuUon^s 5598. All ofteiises Committed, aud all ])enalties or 

ments. forfeitures incurred under any statute embraced in said re- 
vision i)rior to said rei)eal, may be prosecuted and punished 
in the same manner and with the same effect, as if said 
repeal had not been made. 

tj^cta of limita- Sec. 5599. All acts of limitation, Avhether applicable to 

— -civil causes and proceedings, or to the prosecution of 

offenses, or for the recovery of penalties or forfeitures, em¬ 
braced in said revision and covered by said repeal, shall 
not be affected thereby, but all suits, proceedings or prose¬ 
cutions, whether civil or criminal, for causes arising, or acts 
done or committed ])rior to said rei)eal, maybe commenced 
and prosecuted within the same time as if said repeal had 
not been made. 

andciatsmSon ^lie arrangement and classification of the sev- 

of sections. era! sections of the revision have been made for tlie purpose 
of a more convenient and orderly arrangement of the same, 
and therefore no inference or presumijtion of a legislative 
construction is to be drawn by reason of the Title, under 
which any particular section is placed. 
si^e^Del M873^ enactment of the said revision is not to 

not affected. ’ affect or re|)eal any act of Congress i)assed since the 1st day 
of December, one thousand eight hundred and seventy- 
three, and all acts i)assed since that date are to have full 
effect as if i^assed after the enactment of this revision, and 
so far as such acts vary from, or conflict with any provision 
cohtained in said revision, they are to have effect as subse¬ 
quent statutes, and as repealing any portion of the revision 
inconsistent tlierewith. 

Approved, June 22, 1874. 

The following is an act of Congress apx)roved June 6, 
1874: 

AN ACT to amend the act entitled “An act to promote the develop¬ 
ment of the mining resources of the United States,” passed May tenth, 
eighteen hundred and seventy-two. 

Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the 
provisions of the fifth section of the act entitled “An act to 
l^romote the development of the mining resources of the 
United States,” jtassed May tenth, eighteen hundred and 
seventy-two, which requires expenditures of labor and im¬ 
provements on claims located i)rior to the passage of said 
act, are hereby so amended that the time for the first annual 
expenditure on claims located x)rior to the i^assage of said 
act shall be extended to the first day of Januarj", eighteen 
hundred and seventy-five. 

The following is an act of Congress approved February 
11, 1875 : 

AN ACT to amend section two thousand three hundred and twenty.four 
of the Revised Statutes, relating to the development of the minino¬ 
resources of the United States. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, That sec¬ 
tion two thousand three hundred and twenty-four of the 






13 


Kevised Statutes be, and the same is hereby amended so 
that where a person or company has or may run a tunnel 
for the pnrjmses of developing a lode or lodes, owned by 
said person or comi)any, the money so expended in said tun¬ 
nel shall be taken and considered as expended on said lode 
or lodes, wliether located prior to or since the passage of 
said act, and such x^erson or company shall not be required 
to i^erform a\ ork on the surface of said lode or lodes in order 
to liold the same as required by said act. 

The following is an act of Congress ax^proved May 5,187G: 

AN ACT to exclude the States of Missouri and Kansas from the provis¬ 
ions of the act of Congress entitled “An act to promotes the devel¬ 
opment of the mining resources of the Uuited States,” approved May 
tenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-two. 

Be it eyiacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assemhledj That 
within the States of Missouri and Kansas dex)osits of coal, 
iron, lead, or other mineral be, and they are hereby, ex¬ 
cluded from the operation of the act entitled “ An act to 
promote the develox^ment of the mining resources of the 
United States^” axq^roved May tenth, eighteen hundred and 
seventy-two, and all lands in said States shall be subject to 
disx^osal as agricultural lands. 

The following is an act of Congress June 3,1878: 

AN ACT authorizing the citizens of Colorado, Nevada, and the Terri¬ 
tories to fell and remove timber on the public domain for mining and 
domestic purposes. 

Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled^ That all 
citizens of the United States and other x^ersons, bona fide 
residents of the State of Colorado or Kevada, or either of 
the Territories of Kew Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, 
Dakota, Idaho, or Montana, and all other mineral districts 
of the United States, shall be and are hereby, authorized 
and permitted to fell and remove, for building, agricultural, 
mining, or other domestic x^iirposes, any timber or other 
trees growing or being on the public lands, said lands being 
mineral, and not subject to entry under existing laws of the 
United States, excex)t for mineral entry, in either of said 
States, Territories, or districts ofw^bich such citizens or x^er- 
sons may be at the time bona fide residents, subject to such 
rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may 
prescribe for the protection of the timber and of the under¬ 
grow tb growing upon sucb lands, and for other x^nrx^oses: 
Provided^ Tbe provisions of this act shall not extend to rail¬ 
road corx^orations. 

Sec. 2. That it shall be the duty of the register and the 
receiver of any local land-ofi&ce in whose district any min¬ 
eral land may be situated to ascertain from time to time 
*wUetherany timber is being cut or used iq^on any such 
lands, except for the x^urposes authorized by this act, 
within their respective land-districts; and, if so, they shall 
immediately notify the Commissioner of the General Land 
Office of that fact; and all necessary expenses incurred in 
making such prox)er examinations shall be paid and allowed 


14 


such register and receiver in making up their next quarterl}^ 
accounts. 

Sec. 3. Any person or persons wlio shall violate the pro¬ 
visions of this act, or any rules^ and regulations in i)ursuance 
thereof made by the Secretary of the Interior, shall be 
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, 
shall be fined in any sum not exceeding five hundred dol¬ 
lars, and to which may be added imprisonment for any 
term not exceeding six months. 

The following is an act of Congress approved Januaiy 
22 , 1880: 

AN ACT to amend sections twenty-three hundred and twenty-four and 
twenty-three and twenty-five of the Revised Statutes of the United 
States concerning mineral lands. 

Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Bepresentatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled^ That 
section twenty-three hundred and twenty-five of the Re¬ 
vised Statutes of the United States be amended by adding 
thereto the following words: ‘^Provided, That where the 
claimant for a patent is not a resident of or within the land- 
district wherein the vein, lode, ledge, or deposit sought to 
be patented is located, the application for i)atent and the 
affidavits required to be made in this section by the claim¬ 
ant for such i)atent may be made by his, her, or its author¬ 
ized agent, where said ageut is conversant with the facts 
sought to be established by said affidavits : And provided^ 
That this section shall apply to all ax^iDlications now pend- 
in g for patents to mineral lands.” 

Sec. 2 . That section twenty-three hundred and t\yenty- 
four of the Revised Statutes of the United States be 
amended by adding the following Avords: ‘•‘‘Provided, 
That the i)eriod within which the work required to be done 
annually on all unpatented mineral claims shall commence 
on the first day of January succeeding the date of location 
of such claim, and this section shall ai)ply to all claims 
located since the tenth day of May, anno Domini eighteen 
hundred and seventy-two.” 

The following is an act of Congress approved March 3, 
1881:. 

AN ACT to amend section twenty-three hundred and twenty-six of the 
Revised Statutes relating to suits at law affecting the title to mining- 
claims. 

Be it enacted hy the Senate and Home of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, That if, 
in any action brought pursuant to section twenty-three 
hundred and twenty-six of the Revised Statutes, title to the 
ground in controversy shall not be established by either 
party, the jury shall so find, and judgment shall be entered 
according to the verdict. In such case costs shall not be 
allowed to either party, and the claimant shall not proceed 
in the land-office or be entitled to a patent for the ground 
in controversy until he shall have perfected his title. 


15 


MINERAL LANDS OPEN TO EXPLORATION, OCCUPATION, AND PUR¬ 
CHASE. 

1. It will be perceived that by the foregoing provisions of law the 
inineral lands in the iiublic domain, surveyed or unsiirveyed, are open 
to exploration, occuxiation, and purchase, by all citizens of the United 
Stages and all those who have declared their intention to become such. 

STATUS OF LODE-CLAIMS LOCATED PRIOR TO MAY 10, 1872. 

2 . By an examination of the several sections of the Ee^dsed Statutes 
it will be seen that the stattis of lode-claims locsited previous to the 10th 
May, 1872, is not changed with regard to their extent along the lode or 
width of surface. 

3. Mining rights acquired under such previous locations are, how¬ 
ever, enlarged by said Eevised Statutes in the following respect, viz: 
The locators of all such previously taken veins or lodes, their heirs and 
assigns, so long as thej^ comply with the laws of Congress and with 
State, Territorial, or local regulations not in conflict therewith, govern¬ 
ing mining-claims, are invested with the exclusive possessory right of 
all the surface included within the lines of their locations, and of all 
veins, lodes, or ledges throughout their entire depth, the top or apex of 
which lies inside of such surface-lines extended downward vertically, 
although such veins, lodes, or ledges may so far depart from a perpendic¬ 
ular in their course downward as to extend outside the vertical side-lines 
of such locations at the surface, it being expressly jirovided, however, 
that the right of possession to such outside parts of said veins or ledges 
shall be confined to such portions thereof as lie between vertical iilanes 
drawn downward as aforesaid, through the end-lines of their locations 
so continued in their own direction that such planes will intersect such 
exterior parts of such veins, lodes, or ledges; no right being granted, 
however, to the claimant of such outside iiortion of a vein or ledge to 
enter upon the surface location of another claimant. 

4. It is to be distinctly understood, however, that the law limits the 
possessory right to veins, lodes, or ledges, other than the one named in 
the original location, to such as were not adversely claimed on May 10, 
1872, and that where such other vein or ledge was so adversely claimed 
at that date, the right of the party so adversely claiming is in no way 
imx)aired by the provisions of the Eevised Statutes. 

5. In order to hold the xiossessory title to a mining-claim located xirior 
to May 10, 1872, and for which a xiatent has not &en issued, the law 
requires that ten dollars shall be expended annually in labor or imxirove- 
ments on each claim of one hundred feet on the course of the vein or 
lode until a xiatent shall have been issuedtherefor; but where a number of 
such claims are held in common uxion the same vein or lode the aggre¬ 
gate expenditure that would be necessary to hold all the claims, at the 
rate of ten dollars per hundred feet, may be made uxion any one claim ; 
a failure to comxily with this requirement in any one year subjecting 
the claim uxion wliich such failure occurred to relocation by other par¬ 
ties, the same as if no xirevious location thereof had ever been made, 
unless the claimants under the original location shall have resumed 
work thereon after such failure and before such relocation. The first 
annual expenditure upon claims of this class should have been per¬ 
formed subsequent to May 10, 1872, and pi'ior to January 1, 1875. 
From and after January 1,1875, the required amount must be expended 
annually until patent issues. By decision of the honorable Secretary of 


16 


tlie Interior, dated March 4, 1870, such annual expenditures are not re¬ 
quired subsequent to entry, the date of issuing the jiatent certificate 
being the date contemplated by statute. 

fi. Upon the failure of any one of several co-owners of a vein, lode, or 
ledge, which has not been entered, to contribute his proportion of the 
exi)enditures necessary to hold the claim or claims so held in ownership 
in common, the co-owners who have performed the labor, or made the 
improvements, as required by said Eevised Statutes, may, at the expira¬ 
tion of the year, give such delinquent co-owner personal notice in writ¬ 
ing, or notice by i)ublication in the newspaper published nearest the 
claim, for at least once a week for ninety days j and if upon the expira¬ 
tion of ninety days after such notice in writing, or upon the exi:)iration 
of one hundred and eighty days after the first newspaper publication of 
notice, the delinquent co-owner shall have failed to contribute his pro¬ 
portion to meet such expenditures or improvements, his interest in the 
claim by law passes to his co-owners, who have made the expenditures 
or improvements as aforesaid. Where a claimant alleges ownership of 
a forfeited interest under the foregoing provision, the sworn statement 
of the publisher as to the facts of publication, giving dates and a printed 
copy of the notice published, should be furnished, and the claimant 
must swear that the delinquent co-owner failed to contribute his proi^er 
proportion within the period fixed by the statute. 

PATENTS FOR VEINS OR LODES HERETOFORE ISSUED. 

7. Eigiits under patents for veins or lodes heretofore granted under 
previous legislation of Congress are enlarged by the Revised Statutes 
so as to invest the patentee, his heirs or assigns, with title to all veins, 
lodes, or ledges, throughout their entire dex)th, the top or apex of which 
lies within the end and side boundary-lines of his claim on the surface, 
as patented, extended downward vertically, although such veins, lodes, 
or ledges may so far depart from a perpendicular in their course down¬ 
ward as to extend outside the vertical side-lines of the claim at the sur¬ 
face. The right of jiossession to such outside parts of such veins or 
ledges to be confined to such portions thereof as lie between vertical 
planes drawn downward through the end-lines of the claims at the sur¬ 
face, so continued in their own direction that such iilanes will intersect 
such exterior parts of such veins or ledges, it being expressly provided, 
however, that all veins, lodes, or ledges, the top or apex of which lies 
inside such surface locations, other than the one named in the patent, 
which were adversely claimed on the lt)th May, 1872, are excluded from 
such conveyance by jiatent. 

8 . Applications for patents for mining-claims pending at the date of 
the act of May 10,1872, may be prosecuted to final decision in the Gen¬ 
eral Land Office, and where no adverse rights are afiected thereby, 
patents will be issued in pursuance of the provisions of the Revised 
Statutes. 


MANNER OF LOCATINO CLAIMS ON VEINS OR LODES AFTER MAY 10, 

1872. 

9. From and after the 10th May, 1872, any person wlio is a citizen of 
the United States or who has declared his intention to become a citizen, 
may locate, record, and hold a mining-claim of hundred linear 

feet along the course of any mineral vein or lode subject to location; or 
an association of persons, severally qualified as above, may make joint 


17 


location of sncli claim of fifteen hundred feet, Imt in no event can a loca¬ 
tion of a vein or lode made subsequent to :VIay 10, 1872, exceed fifteen 
luindred feet along' the course thereof, whatever maybe the number of 
persons composing the association. 

10 . ith regard to the extent of surface-ground adjoining a vein or 
lode, and cdaimed for the convenient working thereof, the lie vised Stat¬ 
utes provide that the lateral extent of locations of veins or lodes made 
alter IMay 10,1872, shall in no case exceed three hundred feet on eaeh side 
of the middle of the vein at the surface^ and that no such surface-rights 
shall be limited by any mining regulations to less than twenty-five feet 
on each side of the middle of the vein at the surface, excej^t where 
adverse rights existing on the 10th May, 1872, may render such limita¬ 
tion necessary; the end-lines of such claims to be in all cases parallel to 
each other. Said lateral measurements cannot extend beyond three 
hundred feet on either side of the middle of the vein at the surface, or 
such distance as is allowed by local laws. For example: 400 feet can¬ 
not be taken on one side and 200 feet on the other. If, however, 300 
feet on each side are allowed, and by reason of prior claims but 100 feet 
can be taken on one side, the locator will not be restricted to less than 
300 feet on the other side; and when the locator does not determine by 
exploration where the middle of the vein at the surface is, his discovery 
shaft must be assumed to mark such ]^oint. 

11 . the foregoing it will be perceived that no lode-claim located 
after the 10th May, 1872, can exceed a parallelogram fifteen hundred 
feet in length by six hundred feet in width, but whether surface-ground 
of that width can betaken, depends upon the local regulations or State 
or Territorial laws in force in the several mining-districts; and that no 
such local regulations or State or Territorial laws shall limit a vein or 
lode claim to less than fifteen hundred feet along the course thereof, 
Avhether the location is made by one or more persons, nor can surface 
rights be limited to less than fifty feet in width, unless adverse claims 
existing on the 10th day of May, 1872, render such lateral limitation 
necessary. 

12 . It is provided by the Eevised Statutes that the miners of each 
district may make rules and regulations not in conflict with the laws ot 
the United States, or of the State or Territory in which such districts 
are respectively situated, governing the location, manner of recording, 
and amount of work necessary to hold possession of a claim. They like¬ 
wise re(iuire that the location shall be so distinctly marked on the ground 
that its boundaries may be readily traced. This is a very important 
matter, and locators cannot exercise too much care in defining their 
locations at the outset, inasmuch as the law requires that all records 
of mining locations made subsequent to May 10,1872, shall contain the 
name or names of the locators, the date of the location, and such a de¬ 
scription of the elaim or claims located, by reference to some natural 
object or permanent monument, as will identify the chwin. 

13. The statutes provide that no lode-claim shall be recorded until 
after the discovery of a vein or lode within the limits of the claim 
located, the object'of which provision is evidently to prevent the ap¬ 
propriation of presurned mineral ground for speculative purposes to the 
exclusion of hona fide prospectors, before siifiicient work has been done 
to determine Avhether a vein or lode really exists. 

14. The claimant should, therefore, prior to locating his claim, unless 
the vein can be traced upon the surface, sink a shaft, or run a tunnel 
or drift, to a sufficient dei)th therein to discover and develop a mineral- 

2ml 


18 


bearing'vein, lode, or ereviee; slionld determine, if ])ossil)le, the general 
course of sncli vein in either direction from the ])oint of discovery, by 
vliich direction lie will be governed in marking the boundaries of Ids 
claim on tlie surface. Ilis location notice should give the course and 
distance as nearly as practicable from the discovery-shaft on the claim, 
to some ])ermanent, well-known ])oints or objects, such, for instance, as 
stone monnments, blazed trees, the contiuence of streams, point of in¬ 
tersection of Avell-known gulches, ravines, or roads, juominent buttes, 
hills, cS:c., whicli maybe in tlie immediate vicanity, and wliic^h Avill serve 
to perpetuate and tix the locus of the claim and render it susceptible of 
identitication from the description thereof given in the record of loca¬ 
tions in the district, and sliould be duly recorded. 

15. In addition to the foregoing data, the claimant should state th(‘ 
names of adjoining claims, or, if none adjoin, the relative positions of 
the nearest claims; should driA^e a jiost or erect a monument of stones 
at each corner of his surface-ground, and at the ])oint of discoA^ery or 
discoA ery-shaft shoidd tix a post, stake, or board, upon AAdiich should 
be designated the name of the lode, the name or names of the locators, 
the numben^jf feet claimed, and in Avhicli direction from the point of 
discoA ery ; it being essential that the location notice tiled for record, 
in addition to the foregoing descrii)tion, should state whetlier the en¬ 
tire claim of tifteen hundred feet is taken on one side of the point of 
discovery, or whether it is partly u])on one and partly ui^on the other 
side thereof, and in the latter case, hoAv many feet are claimed upon each 
side of such discoAUU'y-])oiut. 

10. Within a reasonable time, say tAAUuity days after the location shall 
have been marked on the ground, or siK'li time as is allowed by the local 
biAvs, notice thereof, accurately describing the claim in manner afore¬ 
said, should be filed for record Avith the proi)er recorder of the district, 
Avho Avill thereui)on issue the usual certihcate of location. 

17. In order to hold the possessory right to a location made since May 
10,1872, not less than one hundred dollars’ Avorth of labor must be per¬ 
formed, or improA^emeuts made thereon annually until entry shall liaA'e 
been made. Under the provisions of the act of Congress appro\u‘d »lan- 
uary 22,1880, the first annual expenditure becomes due and must be ])er- 
formed during the calendar year succeeding that in Avhich the location 
Avas made. Ex])enditure made or labor performed ]>rior to the first day 
(d* daniiary succeeding the date of location Avill not be considered as a 
])art of, or aiiplied u])on the first annual exiienditure required by la w. 
Failure to make the exiienditure or i)erforni the labor required Avill sub¬ 
ject the claim to relocation by any other jiarty liaA'ing the necessary 
(]ualilications, miless the origiiml locator, his heirs, assigns or legal 
re])resentatives have resumed Avork thereon after such failure and be¬ 
fore such relocation. 

18. The exi)enditnres required upon mining-claims may be made tTom 
the surface or in running a tunnel for the development\)f such claims, 
the act of February 11, 1875, providing that Avhere a person or company 
lias, or may, run a tunnel for the pui'pose of develoi)ing a lode or lodes 
owned l)y said i)erson or conq)any, the money So expended in said tun¬ 
nel shall be taken and considered asex])ended on said lode or lodes, and 
such person or company shall not be re(pdred to i)erform Avork on the 
surface of said lode or lodes in order to hold the same. 

19. The imi)ortance of attending to these details in the matter of loca¬ 
tion, labor, and expenditure Avill be the more readily perceived when it 
is understood that a failure to giA^e the subject proper atteiitionmayin- 
Auilidate the claim. 


19 


TUNNEL EIGHTH. 

'JO. S(H*ti()u 2320 ])rovi(les that wliere a tunnel is run tor the develo})- 
nieiit ot a vein or lode, or for the discovery of mines, the owners of sneli 
tunnel shall have the ri<>ht of possession of all veins or lodes within three 
tlionsand feet from the face of sneh tunnel on the line thereof, not pre¬ 
viously knoAvn to-tvxist, discovered in sneh tunnel, to the same extent as 
it discovered from the surface; and locations on the line of such tunnel 
of veins or lodes not appearing on the surface, made by other parth\s 
alter the commencement of the tunnel, and while the same is being prose¬ 
cuted with reasonable diligence, shall be invalid; but failure to iirosecute 
The work on the tunnel for six months shall be considered as an abandon¬ 
ment of the right to all undiscovered A^eins or lodes on the line of said 
tunnel. 

21 . The effect of this is simply to give the proprietors of a mining-tun¬ 
nel run in good faith the possessory right to tifteeu hundred feet of any 
blind lodes cut, disco\ ered, or intersected by such tunnel, which Avere 
not ])reviously known to exist, Avithin three thousand feet from the face 
or i)oint of commencement of such tunnel, and to prohibit other parties, 
after the commencement of the tunnel, from prospecting for and making 
locations of lodes on the line thereof Avithin said distance of three 
thousand feet, unless such lodes apT)ear upon the surface or Avere i)re- 
A'iously kuoAvn to exist. 

22 . The term ‘^face,’’ as used in said section, is construed and held to 
mean the tirst Avorking-face formed in the tunnel, and to signify the point 
at which the tunnel actually enters coA-er; it being from this point that 
the three thousand feet are to be counted, u])on AA^hich i)rospecting is 
prohibited as aforesaid. 

23. To avTvil themselves of the benefits of this proAusion of law, the 
t)ro])rietors of a mining-tunnel Avill be required, at the time they enter 
coATu* as aforesaid, to gm^ ])roper notice of their tunnel location by erect¬ 
ing a substantial ])ost, board, or monument at the face or ])oint of com¬ 
mencement thereof, u])on Avhich should be ])osted a good and sufficient 
notice, giAung the names of thei)arties or com])any claiming the tunnel- 
right ; the actual or jiroposed course or direction of the tunnel; theheight 
and Avidth thereof, and the course and distance from such face or ])oint 
of commejicement to some permanent aa ell-knoAA ii objects in the Aucinity 
by Avhich to fix and determine the locus in manner heretofore set fortli 
a])])licable to locations of atuiis or lodes, and at the time of t)osting such 
notice they shall, in order that miners or pros])ectors may be enabled to 
<letermine Avhether or not they are Avithin the lines of the tunnel, estab¬ 
lish the boundary lines thereof, by stakes or monuments placed along 
such lines at i)ro])er intervals,,to the terminus of the three thousand 
feet from the face or ])oint of commencement of the tunnel, and the 
lines so marked Avill define and goA^ern as to the s])ecifi(‘ boundaries 
Avithin Avhich i)rospecting for lodes not iireviously knoAA n to exist is 
prohibited Avhile Avork on the tunnel is being prosecuted Avith reason¬ 
able diligence. 

24. At the time of posting notice and marking out the lines of the 
tunnel as aforesaid, a full and correct cot)y of such notice of location 
defining the tunnel-claim inust be filed for record Avith the mining re¬ 
corder of the district, to Avhich notice must be attached the SAVorn 
statement or declaration of the oAvners, claimants, or ])rojectors of such 
tunnel, setting forth the tacts in the case ; stating the amount ex- 
j)ended by themselves and their ])redecessors in interest in t)rosecut- 
ing Avork thereon; the extent of the Avork t)erformed, and that it is 



20 


hona fide their iiiteiitioii to ])r()seeute work on the tunnel so located 
and (ieseribed with reasonable diligence for the deveh)})inent of a 
vein or lod(‘, or for the discovery of mines, or both, as the ease may be. 
This notice of location must l)e duly recorded, and, with the said 
sworn statement attached, kei>t on the recorder’s tiles for futur(‘ ref¬ 
erence. 

25. fly a compliance with the foregoing much needless difticidty Avill 
be avoided, and the way for the adjustment of legal rights ac(inired in 
virtue of said section 2523 will be made much more easy and certain. 

2(). This office will take ])articular care that no impro])er advantage 
is taken of this juovision of law by parties making or professing to 
make tunnel locations, ostensibly for the ])ur])oses named in the statute, 
but really for the purpose of mono])olizing the lands lying in front of 
their tunnels to the detriment of the mining interests and to the exclu¬ 
sion of hona fide prospectors or miners, l)ut will hold such tunnel claim¬ 
ants to a strict compliance Avith the terms of the statutes 5 and a rea- 
sonahle dUigenee on their part in ])rosecuting the Avork is one of the 
essential (*onditions of their im])lied contract. Negligence or want of 
due diligence Avill be construed as working a forfeiture of their right to 
all undiscoA^ered A^eins on the line of such tunnel. 

MANNER OF PROCEEDING TO OBTAIN GOVERNMENT TITLE TO VEIN 

OR LODE CLAIAIS. 

27. By section 2325 authority is giA^en for granting titles for mines by 
patent from the government to any })erson, association, or corporation, 
having the necessary qualifications as to citizenship and holding the 
1 ‘ight of possession to a claim in comt)liance Avith law. 

2 <S. Tlie claimant is required in the first ])lace to have a correct sur- 
A^ey of his claim made under authority of the surA^eyor-general of the 
State or Territory in which the claim lies; such suiwey to shoAv Avith 
ac(*uracy the exterior surface boundaries of the claim, Avhich bounda¬ 
ries are required to be distinctly marked by monuments on the ground. 
Four plats and one coxw of the original field-notes, in each case, Avill be 
prepared by the surveyor-general; one ])lat and the original field-notes 
to be retaine<l in the office of the suiweyor-general, one co])yof the 
plat to be giAon the claimant for posting upon the claim, one plat and 
a copy of the field-notes to be giAO]i the claimant for filing Avith the 
proper register, to be finally transmitted by that officer, Avith other 
pa] )ers in the case, to this office, and one ])lat to be sent by the surveyor- 
general to the regist(‘r of the pro]>er land-district to be retained 011 his 
files for future refereiu'e. 

2fi. The claimant is then required to post a copy of the plat of such 
survey in a cons])icuous jdace u])on the claim, together Avitli notice of 
his intention to apply for a i>atent therefor, ANdiich notice'Avill giA^e the 
date of posting, the name ot the claimant, the name of the claim, mine, 
or lode; the mining-district and county; AAhether the location is of 
record, and, if so, Avhere the record may be found; the number of feet 
claimed along the A ein and the ])resunie(l directicm thereof; the number 
ot teet claimed on the lode in eacu direction rruin the j)uintof discoN ery, 
oy other well-defined idace on the claim ; the name or names of adjoin¬ 
ing claimants on the same or other lodes; or, if none adjoin, the names 
of the nearest claims, 

30. After posting the said jdat and notice iq)on the premises, the 
claimant will file Avith the proper register and receiver a copy of such 
])lat, and the field-notes of survey of the claim, accompanied by theaffi- 


21 


davit of at least two credible witnesses, that such plat and notice are 
postcnl conspicaiously upon the claim, giving the date and place of such 
posting; a copy of the notice so posted to be attached to, and form a 
part of, said affidavit. 

dl. Attached to the field-notes so filed must be the sworn statement 
of the claiimint that he has the i)ossessory right to the ])remises therein 
described, in virtue of a com])liance by himself (and by his grantors, if 
he claims by purchase) with the mining rules, regulations, and customs 
of the mining-district, State, or Territory in which the claim lies, and 
Avith the mining laws of Congress; such sworn statement to narrate 
briefly, but as clearly as possible, the facts constituting such compli¬ 
ance, the origin of his possession, and the basis of his claim to a 
patent. ' ^ 

'o2. This affidavit should be snpi)orted by appropriate evidence from 
the mining recorder’s oflice as to his possessory right, as follows, viz: 

here he claims to be a locator, a full, true, and correct copy of such 
location should be furnished, as the same api)ears upon the mining 
records; such cox)y to be attested by the seal of the recorder, or if he 
has no seal, then he should make oath to the same being correct, as 
.shown by his records; Avhere the a])plicant claims as a locator in com¬ 
pany Avith others who have since coina^yed tbeir interests in the lode to 
liim, a cox)yof the original record of location should be filed, together 
Avith an abstract of title from the i)roper recorder, under seal or oath as 
aforesaid, tracing the co-locator’s i)ossessory rights in the claim to such 
api)licaiit for x)atent; where the ax)plicant claims only as a purchaser 
for A’aliiable consideration, a copy of the location record must be filed, 
under seal or n[)on oath as aforesaid, with an abstract of title certifled 
as above by the x)roi)er recorder, tracing the right of x)ossession by a 
continnons chain of conveyances from the original locators to the a^)- 
l)licant, also certifying that no conveyances aftecting the title to the 
claim in (piestion api)ear of record in his oflice other than those set 
forth in the accompanying abstract. 

T3. In the cA’cnt of the mining records in any case having been de¬ 
stroyed by Are or otherAvise lost, affidaAit of the fact shoidd be made, 
and secondary cAddence of possessory title Avill be receiA^ed, Avhich may 
consist of the affidaAdt of the claimant, sni)i)orted by those of any other 
X)arties cognizant of the facts relative to his location, occux)aiicy, x)osses- 
sion, imi)]-oA ements, &c.; and in such case of lost records, any deeds, 
certificates of location or i>nrchase, or other CAddence Avhich may be in 
the claimant’s possession, and tend to establish his claim, should be 
filed. 

34. lJi)on the receii)t of these i)apers the register Avill, at the exx)ense 
of the claimant, (AAdio must furnish the agreement of the publisher to 
hold applicant for x)atent alone resi)onsible for charges of i)ublication), 
X)nblish a notice of such ai)X)lication for the period of sixty days, in a 
neAvs])aper x)nblished nearest to the claim ; and Avill post a copy of such 
notice in his oflice for the same ])eriod. In all cases sixty days must in- 
terA^ene betAA^een the first and the last insertion of the notice in such 
ncAA s])aper. AVhen the notice is published in a weeliij iieAA si)aper ten 
consecutive insertions are necessary ; aa hen in a daili/ neAvspaper the 
notice must appear in each issue for the required period. 

3 .“). The notices so i)ublished and i)osted must be as full and complete 
as i)ossible, and embrace all tlm data given in the notice posted upon 
the claim. 

33. Too much care cannot be exercised in the preparation of these 


22 


notices, iiiasmiicli as u])oii tlieir accuracy and coin])leteness will dc])end, 
in a j»Teat ineasure, the regnlarity and validity of the Avdiole ])roce(‘diii«’. 

d7. The claimant, either at the time of liling these ])a])ers with the 
register, or at any time during tlie sixty days’ ])uhli(^ation, is re(|uired 
to hie a certihcate of the surveyor-general that not less tlian hve hun¬ 
dred dollars’ worth of labor has been ex])ended or improvements made 
upon the claim by tlie a])i)li(;ant or his grantors; that the ])hit tiled by 
tlie claimant is correct; tliat the held-notes of the survey, as hied, fur¬ 
nish siKih an accurate descrii)tion of the claim as will, if incorj)orated 
into a ])atent, serve to fully identify the premises, and that such refer¬ 
ence is made therein to natural objects or i)ermanent monuments as will 
l)erpetuate and hx the locus thereof. 

38. It will be the more convenient way to have this certihcate indorsed 
by the surveyor-general, both u])on the plat and held-notes of survey 
hied by the (;1 aim ant as aforesaid. 

31). After the sixty days’ period of newspaper publication has expired 
the claimant will hie his affidavit, showing that the ])lat and notice 
aforesaid remained conspicuously posted upon the claim sought to be 
l)atented during said sixty days’ ])ublication, giving the dates. 

40. U])on the hling of this affidavit the register will, if no adverse 
claim Avas hied in his office during the period pf publication, ])ermit the 
claimant to pay for the land according to the area given in the i)hit and 
held-notes of survey aforesaid, at the rate of hve dollars for each acre 
and hve dollars for each fractional ])art of an acre, the receiver issuing 
the usual du])licate recei])t therefor. The claimant Avill also make a 
sworn statement of all charges and fees paid by him for i)ublication and 
surveys, together with all fees and money paid the register and receiver 
of the land-office ; after which the whole matter will be forwarded to the 
Commissioner of the General Land t)ffice and a patent issued thereon if 
found regular. 

41. In sending up the papers in the case the register must not omit 
certifying to the fact that the notice Avas ])osted in his office for the full 
period of sixty days, such certificate to state distinctly Avhen such i)ost- 
ing Avas done and how long continued. 

42. The consecutive series of numbers of mineral entries must be con¬ 
tinued, Avliether the same are of lode or placer claims. 

43. The surveyor-general must continue to designate all surveyed 
mineral claims as heretofore by a ])rogressive series of numbers, begin¬ 
ning Avith lot Xo. 37 in each township; the claim to be so designated at 
date of filing the plat, field-notes, iS:c.., in addition to the local designa¬ 
tion of the (‘laini; it being required in all cases that the plat and field- 
notes of the suiwey of a claim must, in addition to the reference to ])er- 
manent objects in the neighborhood, describe the locus of the claim Avith 
reference to the lines of ])ublic suiweys by a line conneciing a corner of 
the claim Avith the nearest public corner of the United States surveys, 
unless such claim be on unsuiweyed lands at a remote distance from 
such ])ublic corner, in which latter case the reference by course and dis¬ 
tance to permanent olqects in tlie neighborhood aa ill be a sufticient des¬ 
ignation by which to fix the locus until the public surveys shall have 
been closed upon its boundaries. 

ADA^ERSE CLAIAIS. 

44. Section 232(> provides for adverse claims, fixes the time Avithiii 
Avhich they shall be filed to have legal efiect, and i)rescribes the manner 
of their adjustment. 


23 


4r). Said soetioii requires tliat the adverse elaiiii sliall he tiled duriiio- 
the ])eri()d ot i)uhli(*atiou of notice*; tliat it most be on tJie oath of tlie 
ad\(‘rse (*lainiant; and that it must show tlie naturey tlie bounda¬ 
ries^''' and tlie extent'’^ of the adverse claim. 

41). In order that this section of law may he properly carried into 
ettee't, the tollowing is commuidcated for the information of all con¬ 
cerned : 

47. An adverse minin<>-claim must he tiled with the re^iister of the 
same land-otfice with wliom the a])j)li(*ation for patent was liled, or in 
his absence with the receiver, and within the sixty daj^s’])eriod of news- 
paper ])uhlication of notice. 

4<S. The adverse notice must he duly sworn to by the i)erson or jier- 
sons inakino- the same before an officer authorized to administer oaths 
within the land-district, or before the register or receiver; it will fidly 
set torth the nature and extent of the interference or contlict; whether 
the adverse party claims as a purchaser tor valuable consideration or 
as a locator; if the former, a certified copy of the original location, 
the original conveyance, a duly (*ertified copy thereof, or an abstract of 
title from the office of the ])ro])er recorder should be furnished, or if 
the transaction was a mere verbal one he will narrate the circnmstances 
attending the ])urchase, the date thereof, and the amount paid, which 
facts should be siqiported by the affidavit of one or more witnesses, if 
any were i)resent at the time, and if he claims as a locator he must 
tile a duly certified coi)y of the lo(*ation from the office of the proper 
recorder. 

411. In order that the boundaries ” and extent ’’ of the claim may be 
shown, it will be incumbent upon the adverse claimant to file a plat 
showing his entire claim, its relative situation or ])osition with the one 
against Avliich he claims, and the extent of thecontlict. This plat must 
be made from an actual survey by a United States deputy surveyor, 
. who Avill officially certify thereon to its correctness; and in addition 
there must be attached to such plat of suiwey a certiheate or sworn 
statement by the surveyor as to the ai)i)roximate value of the labor 
lierformed or im])rovements made ui)on the claim by the adverse party 
or his iiredecessors in interest, and the plat must indicate the position 
of any shafts, tunnels, or other inqirovements, if any such exist, upon 
the claim of the party opjiosing the ai)])lication, and by which party 
said inqirovements AA ere made. 

do. Uimn the foregoing being tiled within the sixty days as aforesaid, 
the register, or in his absence the receiver, Avill give notice in writing 
topur/ic.s* to the contest that such adverse claim has been tiled, 
informing them that the ])arty who filed the adverse claihi ^yi\\ be 
reipiired within thirty days from the date of such filing to commeuce 
l)ro(;eedings in a court of conqietent jurisdiction to determine the ques¬ 
tion of right of jiossession, and to prosecute the same with reasonaiile 
diligence to final judgment, and that should such adverse claimant fail 
to (io so, his adverse claim will be considered waiArnd, and the apiili- 
cation for jiatent be allowed to iiroceed uiion its merits. 

dl. AVhen an adverse (*laim is filed as aforesaid, the register or re(*eiver 
will indorse ujion the same the jirecise date of filing, and preserve a 
recall'd of the date of notifications issued thereon ; and thereafter all 
proceedings on the aiiplication for ])atent will be suspended, Avith tlie 
(‘xce])tion of the completion of the iiublication and posting of notices 
and plat, and the filing of the necessary jiroof thereof, until the contro¬ 
versy shall have been adjudi(,*ated in court, or the adverse claim AA'aived 
or AvitlidraAvn. 


24 


r)2. The ])roeee(liii.i>s after rendition of Jiidgineiit l)y tlie eoiirt in siK'li 
ease are so clearly defined by the act itself as to render it iinnecessai’y 
to enlarj>e thereon in this ])lace. 

oT. Tlie ])roceedin^s to obtain ])atents for claims usually called ])la- 
cers, including all forms of de])osit, are similar to the ])roceedings pre¬ 
scribed for obtaining ])atents for vein or lode claims ; but where said 
l)lacer-claim shall be n])on surveyed lands, and conform to legal subdi¬ 
visions, no further survey or plat will be required, and all i)lacer mining- 
claims located after ^lay 10,1872, shall conform as nearly as ])racticable 
Avith the Uidted States system of ])nl)lic-land surveys and tiie rectan- 
gidar snbdivisions of such surveys, and no such location shall imdnde 
more than twenty acres for each individual claimant; but where placer- 
claims cannot be conformed to legal snbdivisions, survey and plat shall 
be made as on unsurveyed lands. Tint Avhere such claims are located 
previous to the i)id)lic surveys, and do not conform to legal snbdivisions, 
survey, i)lat, and entry thereof may be inade according to the bounda¬ 
ries thereof, provided the hx^ation is in all respects legal. 

oT. The proceedings for obtaining ])atents for veins or lodes having 
already been fully given, it will not be necessary to repeat them here; 
it beiiig thought that careful attention thereto by applicants and the 
local officers will enable them to act iinderstandingly in the matter and 
make such slight modifications in the notice, or otherwise, as may be 
necessary in Anew of the ditterent nature of the two (dasses of claims, 
])lacer-claims being fixed, however, at two dollars and fifty cents per 
acre, or fractional part of an acre. 

55. Jly section 2330, authority is given for the snbdiAision of forty- 
acre legal subdivisions into ten-acre lots, which is intended for the 
greater convenience of miners in segregating their claims both from 
one another and from interAnniiiig agricnltural lands. 

dO. It is held, therefore, that under a i)roper construction of the law 
these ten-acre lots in mining-districts should be considered and dealt 
Avith, to all intents and purposes, as legal snbdivisions, and that an ap- 
l)licant having a legal claim which conforms to one or more of these 
ten-acre lots, either adjoining or cornering, may make entry thereof, 
after the usual procieedings, Avitliout further survey or i)lat. 

37. In cases of this kind, lioweA^er, the notice giA^en of the application 
mast be A^ery specific and accnrate in descrii)tion, and as the forty-acre 
tracts may be snbdivided into ten-acre lots, either in the form of squares 
often by ten chains, or of parallelograms fiAT" by twenty chains, so long 
as the lines are parallel and at right angles with the lines of the public 
surveys, it Avill be necessary that the notice and application state si)e- 
cifically Avhat ten-acre lots are sought to be patented, in addition to the 
other (lata recpiired in the notice. ' 

58. Where the ten-acre subdivision is in the form of a square it may 
be described, for instance, as the ‘‘ S. E. ^ of the S. \V. J of X. \V. J,’’ or, 
if in the form of a parallelogram as aforesaid, it mav be described as 
the \V. ^ of the W. h of the S. i of the ]N'. W. i (or the Ish .} of the 

S. .1 of the X. E. J of the S. E. of section-, townshii) -, 

range-as the case may be; but, in addition to this descrii)tion 

of the land, the notice must give all the other data that is required in 
a mineral aiijilication, l)}^ Avhich jiarties may be put on inquiry as to the 
premises sought to be ])atented. The proof submitted Avitli applications 
for claims of this kind must shoAv clearly the character and the extent 
of the imiiroAxmieuts niion the iiremises. 

Inasmuch as the siirveyor-general has no duty to iierform in connec¬ 
tion Avith the entry of a placer claim of legal snbtlivisions, the proof of 






f 


25 

imi)rovoiiients iimst 8llo^Y their value to be not thmi fice hundred 
doUarfi and that they were inade by the a})plicant for patent or his 
grantors. 

oh. Ai)])lieaiits tor patent to a placer-claim, who are also in i)Ossession 
ot a known vein or lode included therein, innst state in their a|)plication 
tliat the t)lacer includes such vein or lode. The published and ])osted 
notices must also include such statement; and the vein or lode must be 
surveyed and marked upon the ]dat; the tield-notes and plat giving 
the area ot the lode claim or claims and the area of the })la(*er sepa¬ 
rately. If veins or lodes lying within a placer location are owned by 
other parties, the fact slioidd be distinctly stated in the ai)plication for 
l)atent, and in all the notices. It should l)e remembered that an apj)li- 
cation which omits to include an ai)plication for a known vein or lode 
therein, must be construed as a conclusive declaration that the appli- 
eant has no right of ])ossession to the vein or lode, \yhere there is no 
knoAvn lode or vein, the fact must apx)ear by the affidavit of claimant 
and one or more witnesses. 

hd. \\ hen an adverse (daim is tiled to a x)lacer application, the pro¬ 
ceedings are the same as in the case of vein or lode claims, already 
desciibed. 

QUANTITY OF PLACER GROUND SUBJECT TO LOCATION. 

hi. By section 2Tdd it is declared that no location of a ])lacer-claim, 
made after July d, 1870, shall ex(*eed one hundred and sixty a(ues for 
any one person or association of persons, which location shall conform to 
the United States surveys. 

02. Section 2;3oI jwovides that all ])lacer mining-claims located after 
May 10, 1872, shall conform as nearly as ])racticable with the United 
States system of ])ublic surveys and the subdivisions of such surveys, 
and no such locations shall include more than twenty acres for each 
individual claimant. 

OJ. The foregoing i)ro\ isions of law are construed to mean that after 
the 0th day of Jidy, 1870, no location of a ])lacer-claim can be made to 
exceed one hundred and sixty acres, whatever may be the number of 
locators associated together, or whatever the local regulations of the 
district may allow; and that from and after ]May 10, 1872, no location 
made by an individual can exceed twenty acres, and no location made 
by an association of individuals can exceed one hundred and sixty 
acres, which location of one hundred and sixty acres cannot be made 
by a less number than eight bona-Jide locators; and no local laws or 
mining regulations can restrict a ])lacer location to less than twenty 
acres, although the locator is not compelled to take so much. 

(14. The regulations hereinbefore given as to the manner of marking 
locations on the ground, and placing the same on record, must be ob¬ 
served in the case of ])lacer locations, so far as the same are applicable;- 
the law requiring, however, that where placer-claims are upon surveyed 
l)nblic lands the locations inust hereafter be made to conform to legal 
subdivisions thereof as near as practical)le. 

(Jo. With regard to the proofs necessary to establish the possessory 
right to a placer-claim, section 2:io2 provides that where siudi person 
or association, they and their grantors, have held and worked their 
claims for a period e(]ual to the time ])rescribed by the statute of limita¬ 
tions for inining-claims of the State or Territory where the same may 
be situated, eviclence of such ])ossession aud working of the claims ffir 
such period shall be sufficient to establish a right to a i)atent thereto 
under this chapter, in the absence of any adverse claim.” 



f 


26 

()(). Tliis ])rovisioii of Ijnv ^vill greatly lessen tlie burden of i)roofy 
more espeeially in the ease of old (daiins located many years since, tbe 
records of ’wliicli, in many (avses, bave been destroyed by tire, or lost 
in other Avays dnrin,i»’ the hi])se of time, bnf concernin,i>’ the ]K)ss(\sssory 
ri^iit to whi(*h all controversy or litigation has long laam settled. 

()7. AVhen hn a])i)licant desires to make his i)roof of ]K)Ssessory right 
in accordance with this ])rovision of law, yon will not reejnire him to 
])rodn(;e evidence of lo(*ation, copies of conveyaiu'es, or abstracts of 
title, as in other cases, bnt will reepdre him to furnish a dnly tantitied. 
copy of the statute of limitations of mining-claims for the State or Ter¬ 
ritory, together with his sworn statement giving a clear and snccinct 
narration of the facts as to the origin of his litle, and likewise as to the 
continnation of his ])ossession of the mining-gronnd covered by his aj)- 
plication ; the area thereof, the nature and extent of the mining that 
has been done thereon ; whether there lias been any o])position to his 
possession, or litigation with regard to his claim, and, if so, when the 
same ceased; whether sneh cessation was caused by compromise or by 
judicial decree, and any additional facts within the claimant’s knowl¬ 
edge having a direct bearing npon his possession and bona fiden which 
he may desire to submit in sn])portof his claim. 

08. Idiere should likewise be tiled a certificate, under seal of the 
court having jurisdiction of mining cases within the judicial district 
embracing the claim, that no suit or action of any character whatever 
involving the right of possession to any i)ortion of the claim ai)plied 
for is pending, and that there has been no litigation before said court 
affecting the title to said claim or any part thereof for a ])eriod equal 
to the time fixed by the statute of limitations for mining claims in the 
State or Territory as aforesaid, other than that which has been finally 
decided in favor of the claimant. 

(il). The claimant should sni)port his narrative of facts relative to his 
possession, occupancy, and improvements by ('orrobative testimony of 
any disinterested person or ])ersons of creclibility who may be cogni¬ 
zant of the facts in the case and are capalde of testifying nnderstand- 
ingly in the ])remises. 

70. It will be to the advantage of claimants to make their proofs as. 
fnll and com})lete as practicable. 

MILL-SITES. 

71. Section 2337 provides that, where non-mineral land not contigu¬ 
ous to the vein or lode is nsed or occupied by the proi)rietor of such 
vein or lode for mining or milling ])nrposes, snch non-adjacent snrface- 
gronnd may be embioced and included in an a])i)lication for a patent 
for snch vein or lode, and the same may be patented therewith, subject 
to the same preliminary requirements as to survey and notice as are 
applicable to veins or lodes; bnt no location hereafter made of sindi 
hon-adjacent land shall exceed live acres, and ])ayment for the same 
mnst be made at the same rate as fixed by this cha])ter for the su])er- 
ficies of the lode. The owner of a qnartz-mill or redaction-works, not 
OAvning a mine in connection therewith, may also receiAT> a patent for 
his mill-site, as provided in this section.” 

72. To avail themsehms of this provision of law, parties holding the 
possessory right to a Amin or lode, and to a piece of non-mineral land 
not contignons thereto, for mining or milling purposes, not exceeding 
the quantity alloAAmd for siich purpose by section 2337 United States 
Eevised Statutes, or i)rior laws, under AAdiich the land Avas ai)i)ropriated, 
the proprietors of snch vein or lode may tile in the proi)er land-office 
their ap])lication for a patent, under oath, in manner already set forth 





/ 


27 

lieieiii, which application, together with the ])hit and field-notes, may 
include, embrace, and describe, in addition to the vein or lode, such 
non-contignons mill-site, and after due proceedings as to notice, <S:c., a 
jaitent will be issued conveying the same as one claim. 

7->. In inalving the survey in a case of this kind, the lode-claim shonhl 
be described in the jdat and field-notes as ‘‘ Lot No. d7, ’A,” and the 
niill-site as Lot No. 37,1>,” or whatever may be its apimopriate numer¬ 
ical designation ; the course and distance from a corner of the mill- 
site to a corner of tlie lode-claim to be invariably given in such plat and 
field-notes, and a coi)y of the jdat and notice of api)lication for ])atent 
must be eons})icnonsIy i)osted upon the mill-site as Avell as n])on the 
vein or lode for the statutory ])eriod of sixty days. In making the en¬ 
try no se])arate receii>t or certificate need be issued for tlie mill-site, 
but the Avhole area of both lode and mill-site will be embraced in one 
entry, the price being five dollars for each acre and fractional part of an 
acre embraced by such lode and mill-site claim. 

74. In case the owner of a quartz-mill or reduction-works is not the 
owner or claimant of a vein or lode, the huv permits him to make ap¬ 
plication therefor in the same manner i)rescribed herein for mining- 
(‘laims, and after due notice and ])roceedings, in the absence of a valid 
adverse filing, to enter and receive a patent for his mill-site at said 
price ])er acre. 

75. In every case there must be satisfactory proof that the land claimed 
as a mill-site is not mineral in character, which proof may, where the 
matter is unquestioned, consist of the sworn statement of the claimant, 
su])ported by that of one or more disinterested ])ersons capable from 
accpiaintance with the land to testify understandingly. 

7(). The law expressly limits mill-site locations made from and after 
its ])assage to five acres, 

77. The registers and receivers will preserve an unl)roken consecutive 
series of numbers for all mineral entries. 

I’KOOF OF (UTIZENSniP OF MIXIXCt-CLAIMANTS. 

78. The ])roof necessary to establish the citizenship of ap])licants for 
mining-patents must be made in the following manner: In (*ase of an 
incor[)orated company, a (*ertified copy of their charter or certificate of 
incori)oration must be filed. Iii case of au association of persons unin- 
cor])orated, the affidavit of tludr duly authorized agent, made iqxni his 
own knowledge, or upon information and belief, setting forth the resi¬ 
dence of each ])erson forming such association, jnnst be submitted. 
This affidavit must be accom])anied by a power of attorney from the 
l)arties forming such association, authorizing the person who makes 
the atlidavit of citizenship to act for them in the matter of their ai)i)li- 
cation for i)atent. 

71). In case of an individual or an association of individuals who do 
not api)ear by their duly authorized agent, you will reepnre the aflidavit 
of each a])plicant, showing whether he is a native or naturalized citi¬ 
zen, when and where born, and his residence. 

80. In case an a])i)licant has declared his intention to become a citi¬ 
zen, or has been naturalized, his affidavit must show the date, place, 
and the court before which he declared his intention, or from which his 
certificate of citizenship issued, and i)resent residence. 

81. The aflidavit of the claimant as to his citizenshi]) may be taken be¬ 
fore the register or receiver, or any other oflicer authorized to admin¬ 
ister oaths within the land-district. If citizenshi]) is established by the 
testimony of disintejcsted ])ersons, such testimony may betaken at any 



28 


. ^ 


})lace’before any ])ei‘S()ii autliorized to administer oatlis^ and wliose ofti- 
eial cliaracter is dnly verified. 


APPOINTMENT OF DEPUTY SURVEYORS OR MINING-CLAIMS—CHARGES 
FOR SURVEYS AND PUBLICATIONS—FEES OF REGISTERS AND RP> 
CEIVERS, cVC. 

82. Section 2334 i)ro\ ides for the ai)])ointinent of surveyors of ndn- 
eral claims, authorizes tlie Commissioner of tlie (leneral Land (Ifllice to 
establish tlie rates to be charged for surveys and for newsjiajier publi¬ 
cations, prescribes tlie fees allowed to the local ohicers for receivin,i»' 
and actinin niion ap])lications for mining-])atents andfoi' adverse claims 
tli(‘reto, <S:c. 

Under this anthority of huv the following rates have been estal)- 
lished as the maximnm charges for newsjiaper publications in mining 
cases : 


a W'liere a daily newspaper is designated the charge shall not ex¬ 
ceed seven dollars for each ten lines of sjiace occupied, and where a 
weekly newspaper is designated as themeilinm of }mbli(‘ation live dol¬ 
lars for the same s])ace will be allowed. Huch charge shall be accepted 
as fall i^ayment for imblication in each issue of the newspajier for the 
entire iieiiod recpiired by law. 

It is exjiected that these notices shall not be so abbreviated as to 
curtail the description essential to a i)erfect notice, and the said rates 
established uiion the nnderstanding that they are to be in the usual 
body-type used for advertisements. 

b For the publication of citations in ('ontests or hearings involving 
the character of lands, the charges shall not exceed eight dollars for 
five tniblications in weekly newspapers, or ten dollars for publications 
in daily newspapers for thirty days. 

83. The siirveyors-general of the several districts will, in pursuance 
of said law, api)oint in each land-district as many competent dejuities 
for the survey of mining-(daims as may seek such a])pointment; it being 
distinctly understood that all expenses of these notices and surveys are 
to be borne by the mining-(daimants and not by .the United States; the 
system of making deposits for mineral surveys, as ivupured by previous 
instructions, being hereby revoked as regards//c/d-zror/t:; the claimant 
having the option of employing anij deput}" surveyor within such district 
to do Ids work in the held. 

84. With regard to the plnttiiKj of the claim and other office-work in 
the surveyor-general’s office, that officer will' make an estimate of the 
cost thereof, which amount the claimant will deposit with any assistant 
UnitedStates treasurer, or designated depository, in favor of the United 
States Treasurer, to be ])assed to the credit of the fund created by 
“individual dejzositors for surveys of the public lands,” and hie jvdth 
the surveyor-general duizlicatecertihcates of such deposit in the usual 
nzanner. ' 


85. The surveyors-general v ill endeavor to ai)})oint mineral deputy 
surveyors, so that one or mor(> may be located in each mining-district 
for the greater convenience of miners. 

8h. The usual oaths will be reipiired of these dei)uties and their assist¬ 
ants as to the correctness of each survey executed by them. 

The duty of the de])uty mineral sur\'eyor ceases when he has exe¬ 
cuted the survey and returned the hehl-notes and preliminary plat 
thereof with his rei)ort to the surveyor-general. 1 le will not be allowed 
to ])re])are for the mining-claimant tlie ])a|)ers in sujiport of an appli¬ 
cation for patent, or otherwise ])erf'jrm the duties of an attorney before 
the land-office in connection with a mining-claim. 


The surveyors-geiieral and local land-officers are exi)ected to report 
any infringement of this regulation to this office. 

<S7. The law re(piires that each ap])licant shall tile with the register 
and receiver a sworn statement of all charges and fees paid hy him for 
jmblication of notice and for survey ; together with all fees and money 
l)aid the register and receiver, Avhich sworn statement is required to be 
transmitted to this office, for the information of the Commissioner. 

88. Should it api)ear that excessive or exorbitant charges have been 
made by any surveyor or any ])ublisher, ju-ompt action will be taken 
with the view of correcting the abuse. 

8h. The fees payable to the register and receiver for filing and acting 
upon api)lications for mineral-land patents are five dollars to each offi¬ 
cer, to be paid by the applicant for patent at the time of filing, and the 
like sum of five dollars is payable to each officer by an adverse claim¬ 
ant at the time of filing his adverse claim. 

1)0. All fees or charges under this law may be paid in United States 
currency. 

01. The register and receiver will, at the close of each month, forward 
to this office an abstract of mining-applications filed, and a register of 
receipts, accompanied with an abstract of mineral lands sold, and an 
abstract of adverse claims filed. 

02. The fees and i^urchase-money received by registers and receivers 
must be placed to the credit of the United States in the receiver’s 
monthly and quarterly account, (diarging up in the disbursing account 
tlie sums to Avhich the register and receiver may be respectlA^ely enti¬ 
tled as fees and commissions, Avith limitations in regard to the legal 
maximum. 


HEARINGS TO ESTABLISH THE CHARACTER OF LANDS. 

03. In eA^ery case aa here it becomes necessary under the law and existing 
instructions of this office that a hearing be held and testimony taken 
for the purpose of ascertaining tlie mineral or agricultural character 
of land, the local officers are directed to cause the eA idence to be taken 
before a duly qualified officer whose office is located nearest the land in 
disjuite, the distance to be computed by ordinary routes of tiTwel. 

AVhenever the local office comes Avithin this rule, the hearing Avill be 
held before the register and receiA^er. 

It IS intended to cause these hearings to be held, as far as practi¬ 
cable, in such manner as to atibrd the least inconA^enience to persons 
interested. Should it appear, therefore, by aa ritten stipulation of all 
the parties that this purpose will best be subserved by the designation 
of any particular officer authorized to, administer oaths Avithin the land- 
district in Avliich the land in controA'crsy is situated, the instructions 
herein may be departed from in accordance with such stii)ulation. 
Such deAdation may also be alloAATd Avhere the officer Avho would, other- 
Avise, be designated is an interested party, or Avhere, for other good 
reason, his selection would be improper. 

AVhen the evidence is taken before an officer other than the register 
and receiA^er, the record should be sealed up, the title of the case in¬ 
dorsed on the eiiA^clopc, and the whole returned by mail or express to 
the register and receiver. 

On the 27th April, 1880, in accordance aa ith the directions of the Sec¬ 
retary of the Interior this office reA^oked the withdraAAxals theretofore 
made, upon general information, that Anst tracts of public land Avere 
mineral in character, and instructed the local officers, in the absence of 
a specific allegation of the mineral character of land to alloAV applica¬ 
tions for agricultural entry thereof, upon due proof. 





' 30 

Hereafter the only traets of ])u])lie laud that will be withheld from 
entry as agrieultiiral laud oii aeeoiiut of its luiueral eharaeter, will be 
.such as are returned by the surv(‘yor-^eueral as mineral; and even tlie 
])resumptiou which is su])])orted by sueli return may be overcome by 
testimony taken at a regular hearing'. 

Hearings to determine the eharaeter of land, as ])raetieally distin¬ 
guished, are of two kinds : 

1 st. AVhere lands which are sonj^ht to be entered and, i)atented as 
agricultural are alleged by affidavit to be mineral, or wlien sought as 
mineral their non-mineral character is alleged. 

The proceedings relative to this class are in the nature of a contest 
between two or more known ])arties, and the testimony may be taken 
on ])ei’Sonal notice of at least ten days, duly served on all parties, or, if 
they cannot be found, then by ])nblication, for thirty days in a news- 
])ai)er of general eirculation, to be designated by the register of tlie 
land-office as published nearest to the land in controversy. If publica¬ 
tion is made in a weekly newspaper, the notice must be inserted in hve 
consecutive weekly issues thereof. 

Ud. AVhen lands are returned as mineral by the surveyor-general. 

When such lands are sought to be entered as agricultural, notice 
junst be given by ])nblication for thirty days, as aforesaid. 

ho. All notices must describe the land, give the name and address ot 
the claimant, the character of Ids claim, and the time, place, and i)nr- 
pose of the hearing. 

lh‘oof of service of notice, Avhen ])ersonal, must consist of either ac¬ 
knowledgment of service indorsed on the citation, (which is always 
desirable,) or the affidavit of the party serving the same, giving date,, 
])la(*>e, ami manner of service, indorsed as aforesaid. 

Ib’oof of ])nblication must be the affidavit of the publisher of the news- 
])aper, stating the i)eriod of pid)lication, giving dates, stating whether 
in a daily or weekly issue, and a copy of the notice so i)iiblished must 
be attaclied to, and form a ])art of, the affidavit. 

Troof of posting on the claim must be made by tlie affidavits of two 
or more ])ersons who state when and where the notice was posted j that 
it remained so posted during the i)rescribed ])eriod, giving dates, and a 
copy of the notice so iiosted must be attached to, and made a part of, the 
affidavits. 

Proof of notice is indispensable to the regularity of proceedings and 
must accomi)any the record in every case. 

The exi)ense of notice must in every case be paid by the parties 
thereto. 

9(). At the hearing there must be filed the affidavit of the ])ublisher 
of the paper that the said notice was published for the required time, 
stating when and for how long such publication was made, a printed 
coiiy thereof to be attached and made a ])art of the affidavit. 

1)7. At the hearing the claimants and witnesses will be thoroughly 
examined with regard to the character of the land 5 whether the same 
has been thoroughly prospected; whether or not there exists within 
the tract or tracts claimed any lode or vein of (piartz or other rock in 
place, bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, or coi)per, or other val¬ 
uable deposit which has ever been claimed, located, recorded, or worked; 
whether such work is entirely abandoned, or whether occasionally re¬ 
sumed ; if such lode does exist, by whom claimed, under what designa¬ 
tion, and in which subdivision of the land it lies; whether any i)lacer 
mine or mines exist ujion the land; if so, what is the character tliereof— 
whether of the shallow-surface description, or of the deep cement, blue 


31 


lead, or gravel deposits; to Avliat extent iiuiniig is carried on wJien 
Avater can be obtained, and wliat the facilities are for obtaining’ water 
for mining ])nr])oses; upon Avhat ])articular ten-acre subdivisions min¬ 
ing lias been done, and at what time the land Avas abandoned for min¬ 
ing pnr])oses, if abandoned at all. 

h8. The testimony shonld also show the agricnltnral cajiacities of the 
land, what kind of cro])S are raised thereon, and the A^alne thereof; the 
number of a(a*es actually cultivated for cro])s of cereals or vegeta¬ 
bles, and Avithin Avhich ])articular ten-acre snbdiAision such crops an* 
raised; also Avhich of these subdiAisions embrace his iinjiroAxmients, 
giving in detail the extent and A’^alue of his improvements, such as 
house, barn, Auneyard, orchard, fencing, etc. 

hh. It is thought that bona fide settlers u])on lands really agricultu¬ 
ral Avill be able to shoAv, by a clear, logical, and succinct chain of evi- 
dema*, that their claims are founded upon laAV and justice; while iiar- 
ties Avho IniA^e made little or no permanent agricultural imi)roA’emeuts, 
and Avho only seek title for s])eculative purposes, on account of the 
mineral dei)Osits knoAvn to themselA^es to be contained iu the land, will 
be defeated in their intentions. 

lOh. The testimony should be as full and complete as possible; and, 
in addition to the leading ])oints indicated above, exa^rything of impor¬ 
tance bearing u])on the (piestion of the (diaracter of the land should be 
elicited at the hearing. 

101. AVhere the testimony is taken before an officer Avho does not use 
a seal, other than the register and receiver, the official character of 
su(!h officer must be attested by a clerk of a court of record, and the 
testimony transmitted to the register and receiA^er, ayIio Avill thereupon 
examine and forAAaird tlie same to this office, Avith their joint opinion as 
to tlie (diaracter of tlie land as shoAvn by the testimony. 

102. Wlien the case comes before this offi(*e, such an award of the 
land Avill be made as the law and the facts may justify; and in cases 
Avhere a survey is necessary to set apart the mineral from the agricailt- 
ural land iu any forty-acre tract, the necessary instructions Avill be 
issued to enable the agricultural claimant, at bis own expense^ to IniAU* 
the Avork done, at his ojitiou, either by United States deputy, county, 
or other local surA cyor; the survey in such case may be executed in 
such manner as aaoII segregate the portion of land actually containing 
the mine, and used as surface-ground for the convenient AA'orking 
thereof, from the remainder of the tract, aa hich remainder aauII be jiat- 
ented to the agricidturist to Avhom the same may have been aAvarded, 
subject, liOAveA^er, to the condition that the land may be entered iiiion 
by the proprietor of any vein or lode for Avhich a patent has been issued 
by the United States for the purjiose of extracting and removing the 
ore from the same, Avhere found to penetrate or intersect the land so 
jiatented as agricultural, as stipulated by the mining-act. 

103. Such survey Avheii executed must be tuoperly SAvorn to by the 
surv(iyor, either before a notary tmblic, officer of a court of record, or 
before the register or receiA^er, the detxment’s character and credibility 
to be jiroperly certifted to by the officer administering the oath. 

lot. Ut)on the hliiig of the idat and lield-notes of such suivey, duly 
SAAUirn to as aforesaid, you Avill transmit tlie same to the surA"eyor-gen- 
eral for his Avultication and a])proAml; Avho, if lie tlnds the AAork cor- 
I'ectly iierfornied, aaIII properly mark out the same upon the original 
toAvnshit)-])lat in his office, and furnish authenticated copies of such 
plat and description both to the protier local land-office and to this 
office, to be affixed to the duplicate and triplicate toAAuiship-plats re¬ 
spectively. 


32 


105. Til cases where a ])ortioii of a forty-acre tract is awarded to aii 
agricultural claiiiiaiit and lie causes tlie se^^re.i>atiou thereof from tlie 
miueral iiortioii, as aforesaid, such agricultural jiortioii will not he 
.aiveii a numerical desi^>uatioii as in the case of survey(‘d miueral 

claims, but will simply be described as the ^‘ Fractional-(piarter 

of the- quarter of section-, in towiislii])-, of range 

-, meridian, coutaiiiiug-ai-res, the same being exclusive of 

the land adjudged to be miueral in said forty-acre tract.’^ • 

too. The surveyor must correctly (‘.oiiquite the area of such agricult¬ 
ural iiortiou, which computation Avill be AX*rilied by the surveyor-gen¬ 
eral. 

107. After the authenticatedqdat and field-notes of the survey have 
been received from flip surveyor-general, this office Avill issue the nec¬ 
essary order for the entry of the land, and in issuing the receiver’s re¬ 
ceipt and register’s patent certificate you Avill invariably lie governed 
by the description of the land gh^en in the order from this office. 

108. The fees for taking testimony and reducing the same to writing 
in these cases will have to be defrayed by tlie parties in interest. 
Where such testimony is taken before any other officer than the regis¬ 
ter and receiver, the register and receiA^er Avill be entitled to no fees. 

100. If, upon a reAueAV of the testimony at this office, a ten-acre tract 
should be found to be properly miueral in character, that fact will be 
no bar to the execution of the settler’s legal right to the remaining non- 
)nineral portion of his claim, if contiguous. 

110. No fear need be entertained that miners AAill be permitted to 
make entries of tracts ostensibly as mining-claims, Avhich are not 
mineral, simply for the purpose of obtaining possession and defraud¬ 
ing settlers out of their A^aluable agricultural imiiroA ements; it being 
almost an impossibility for such a fraud to be consummated under 
the laAvs and regulations apiilicable to obtaining patents for mining- 
claims. 


111. The fact that a certain tract of land is decuded upon testimony 
to be mineral in character is by no means equiA^alent to an aAvard of the 
land to a miner. A miner is comi)elled by laAV to giA^e sixty days’ pub¬ 
lication of notice, and posting of diagrams and notices, as a i)relinii- 
nary step; and then, before lie can enter the land, he must sIioaa^ that 
the laud yields miueral; that he is entitled to the possessory right 
thereto in virtue of compliance Avith local customs or rules of miners, 
or by Aurtue of the statute of limitations; that he or his grantors 
luiA'C expended, in actual labor and improA^ements, an amount of not 
less than fiA^e hundred dollars thereon, and that the claim is one in re¬ 
gard to which there is no coutroA^ersy or o])posing claim. After all 
these proofs are met, he is entitled to liaA’e a survey made at his own 
cost Avhere a survey is reipiired, after Avhich he can enter and pay for 
the laud embraced by his claim. 

112. Blank forms for ])roofs in mineral cases are not furidshed by 
the General Land Offi(*-e. 

Kes])e(*tfully, 


N. G. ^rcFABLANI), 

Commissioner^ 


Ap])roved. 


Depautment of Interior, 

October 1881. 

S. J. KIlMvWOOI), 

t^ecretari/^ 








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